slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

By Aaron Blake

Lindsey Graham explains his pro-Trump conversion — and it’s not because he thinks Trump is great. How Graham went from being a critic to one of Trump's top Senate allies.

It’s time to stop asking what happened with Sen. Lindsey O. Graham’s complete 180 on President Trump, because Graham has now made it abundantly clear: political expediency.

But that, in and of itself, suggests his view of Trump remains about as dim as it was before.

This is a question that has stalked Graham for some time. How could he go from calling Trump a “kook” who is “unfit for office” in 2016 to the guy who, in 2017, infamously attacked others for labeling Trump a “kook not fit to be president?” And it is a fair question; Washington is not a place chock-full of principled stands and consistency, but even here the disconnect between 2016 Graham and 2017-19 Graham is remarkable.

Mark Leibovich got answers out of Graham in a new New York Times Magazine profile:

What did happen to Lindsey Graham? I raised the question directly to him the following afternoon in his Senate office in Washington. Graham was collapsed behind a cluttered desk, sipping a Coke Zero and complaining of exhaustion.

“Well, O.K., from my point of view, if you know anything about me, it’d be odd not to do this,” he said.
I asked what “this” was. “ ‘This,’ ” Graham said, “is to try to be relevant.” Politics, he explained, was the art of what works and what brings desired outcomes. “I’ve got an opportunity up here working with the president to get some really good outcomes for the country,” he told me.

Graham goes on to recount how his close friend and fellow sometimes-maverick in the Senate, the late senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), beat back a 2010 primary challenge by reinventing himself as “the most conservative member of the U.S. Senate.” Graham, who is up himself in 2020 and has faced his own primaries, added to Leibovich: “If you don’t want to get reelected, you’re in the wrong business.”

Graham has hinted at such a t***sparently political calculus before, but here he seems to lean into it even more. Leibovich writes Graham delivered that last quote while making clear he was “speaking to me as a fellow creature of Washington, fully versed in the e******n-year ‘showcasing’ he is now engaged in.”

One might say Graham admitting exactly what game he is playing is a refreshing bit of honesty. But the subtext is almost unmistakable: Graham is basically admitting his view of Trump has not changed appreciably. He is just doing this, after all, for his own political capital and re-e******n prospects.

And what’s more, it is telling that he feels the need to rationalize it. If he truly thought Trump was a great president and person, that would be a pretty simple answer to questions like Leibovich’s. I thought Trump was bad, but I was totally wrong, and now I support him. That would seem to be even better for his ree******n prospects, because it would suggest his pro-Trump evolution was more heartfelt. Yet that is not what Graham’s saying; he is basically saying he is trying to make lemonade out of lemons.

Having read the Leibovich profile, I kept thinking back to then-Sen. Arlen Specter — another moderate-ish GOP senator from Pennsylvania — explaining his switch in 2010 to the Democrats. “My change in party will enable me to be reelected,” Specter said. The quote was featured in an ad by his primary opponent, who defeated Specter for the Democratic nomination.

Specter’s admission was more ham-handed than Graham’s, but they are of the same ilk. Both men are copping to doing things they may not truly believe in because it increases their chances of self-preservation and, by extension, accomplishing things. But just as Specter was tacitly admitting his evolution was not really one of conviction, so, too, is Graham.

The fact that Graham feels the need to admit to anything is what’s most conspicuous. It is almost as if he does not totally want to associate himself with Trump.

https://www.bing.com/search?q=lindseygrahamcommentsondonaldtrump&form=EDGEAR&qs=PF&cvid=7d82100bf0454221b92207e27f7592bf&cc=US&setlang=en-US&plvar=0&PC=HCTS

Michael Rich Loc: Lapine Oregon

Politicians who say or do anything to attain or remain in power, who'da thunk such madness.😱

Liberty Tree

Graham knows, like many others including myself, that while Trump though not our first choice or perfect is all we have standing between us and the extreme radical left and its blind quest to turn America away from its founding principles and set it on a course to destruction.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Hard to believe, huh? But then, isn't that a big part of the problem?

Weewillynobeerspilly Loc: North central Texas

So what's wrong with whores? I like whores :)

Michael Rich Loc: Lapine Oregon

Indeed..both sides!

4430 Loc: Little Egypt ** Southern Illinory

Trump is the only one standing in the way of America becoming a Socialist nation !

The progressive l*****t liberal fruitcakes in both parties don't like it proven from day one when Trump announced his bid to run for President !

Liberty Tree

I did not v**e for Trump but I do know he is all we have at this point.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

A text book example of dementia was presented by Graham during his opening statements yesterday. The guy was all over the map; one breath agreeing that the Russia investigation was legitimate, the next calling it a witch hunt.

vernon

I v**ed for President Trump and proud of it.Has anyone heard a plan from the demoRATS. All they want is to keep the gravy train coming and I wonder how many republicans are involved in this theft of billions.
I would like an investigation of all the give away money like foreign aid and stunts like Joe Biden pulled in the Ukraine. These people in the house have stolen billions if not trillions from our country.They should have to pay back that money no matter how long ago it was stolen.Now don't you think its time to clean up this criminal activity and include all parties.

padremike Loc: Phenix City, Al

You've really missed the point, I'm not surprised. Russia interferred, to what degree is debatable. The witch hunt, the diabolical evil witchhunt, occurred when the Marxist Progressives blamed Trump with colluding with the Russians, knowing it was a lie, and have sought to destroy him and overturn an e******n ever since. If those responsible are not convicted and sent to a Super Max we will eventually lose our Republic.

Lonewolf

Russia are you listening

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Although I agree with the sincerity behind your stated motive(s), I respectfully disagree with your choice of Mr. Trump and your description of others' "blind quest." IMHO, Donald J. Trump is leading this nation on a path to eroding those founding principals and eventually to its possible destruction if elected to a second term.

nwtk2007 Loc: Texas

Graham is more the pragmatist than political whore. He openly doesn't like Trump and, in fact, always refers to Trump as just "Trump," not President Trump. So what. I don't like him either but he's making every attempt to do the things he said he would do if elected; even in the face of bipartisan resistance in many cases.

Trump has exposed the true whore's of our government and not all are democrats either.

I also particularly liked Lindsey's opening statement yesterday, especially this part: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idj-YweBAD8

Say what you will about Lindsey Graham, not my favorite either, but rest assured, you seem to be a supporter for much greater "whores" in government that he.

nwtk2007 Loc: Texas

Collusion! Collusion!!